james's online diary.

taganga

2009-07-06T03:47:07Z

taganga is an unpretty little fishing village on colombias northern caribbean coast with a medioca beach which is trying really, really hard to be a decent tourist destination. 5 kilometres north of santa marta, popular with colombians, and backpackers. i think its got a fair way to go, part of the town will always be a dodgy fishing village. after a while heres ive noticed this place does have a small amount of appeal, but its not immediately evident. and really its only from dusk onwards, when the cool breeze comes down from the mountains.

I've spent just over a week here now, and from monday to friday I've been doing "remote" work for bulletproof as part of an agreement i made before i left. the remote work is very doable - but its still hard to be stuck at the laptop whilst alll the other travelers head off every morning to go diving, or to the beaches, or trekking, or the national park.

the diving here has been fantastic. ive completed my PADI Advanced certification last weekend, and i booked two additional fun dives for today (sunday).

the first one was in very rough water, but underneath it all, sublime. went through a tunnel formation. got mixed up in some pretty ~interesting~ currents. saw my first octopus. a goreous pair of angelfish who came and investigated each diver before swimming off. and saw the biggest black spotted moray ive ever seen. oh and my dive buddy vomited underwater. too many drinks the night before. very amusing. the exit from the water back up onto the boat was very rough - the roughest i've ever done, we were only 10 metres or so offshore, with some big waves coming in rocking the small boat in all directions. had to take off all the gear in the water, have that lifted in seperatley, and then haul your body onto the boat without getting done over by the next wave.

second dive was great as well. not as many fish but a couple of interesting encounters. we saw another big octopus, would have been perfectly camouflaged except for all the discarded shells around the rock - it's quite the giveaway. I also got a tiny bit entagled in a fishmans net which was a lot bigger than what i first realised, my DM helped me out of that one. also had a strange & wonderful encounter with a small fish, no bigger than a couple of thumbs. my DM got him riled up a little bit, then he proceeded to follow us around and charge or headbut our forehead and masks - really quite incredible, this tiny tiny little fish ready to take on the human intruder, he'd dart towards you kamikhazi-style, sometimes turning away at the last minute, and sometimes landing its punches using its gums & mouth which were actually quite hard. well not enough to hurt but noticeable & and very cute.

i've uploaded some new pictures into the colombia folder

also just uplaoded - my first set of shots underwater. mostly just experimenting with light and contrast, and some of the cool things you can do when you're neutrally boyant.

the water here was 28 degrees - quite cold enough for the caribbean. and thats my last caribbean dive as well. the next one will be somewhere in the pacific ocean.

deep diver

2009-06-29T01:07:05Z

two more big dives today

the first was the deep dive - 100 feet underwater.

strangely after the initial equalisation - i didnt really notice much difference - if it wasnt for the depth guague telling me otherwise, i would have assumed i was still at 60ft. whilst underwater we did a few test an experients to show how the body reacts & how substances react to the greater pressure levels. one of the examples was cracking an egg underwater - the pressure from all sides compacts the yoke to something the size of a little marble. we played table tennis with it until some fish noticed it was edible - and the whole school descended around us, picking it apart in a matter of seconds.

after this we went back to the reef, saw some incredible life again - including two loverly sea-horses (which camouflage excceptionally well in the coral).

i still feel a little nautious for the first few minutes that i am underwater, but the problems i had with slow decent/slow equalising no longer seem to be around

the second dive was better again - it ended up being a drift dive around a smallish rock island for 44 minutes. and i got the underwater camera to play with as part of the "advanced skill". whilst it wasnt that challenging it was more than exciting: underwater photography has pretty much installed itself as my new fantasy career choice, combining three or four things that i love a lot.

ill get the pictures back sometime tomorrow and hopefully get them online soon after - this should include the first couple of pictures of me underwater as well.

nightswimming

2009-06-28T02:54:26Z

as part of doing my advance open water course ive done three dives today, and they were all fantastic

the water here is a fair bit colder than elswewhere in the caribbean and the full wetsuit was required.

the first dive was a drift dive, basically being able to manage yourself in a current of water, being able to kick out of it, move around it, or just stay still - and float along with the actual sea creatures.

this was my favourate of all the dives today, for three reasons, the first was the amount of life the surrounded us the whole time. large schools of colourful fish, just everywhere. the other reason this was amazing was the incredible underwater landscape. big rocks, and massive brain coral, much bigger than me, with swarms of fish hovering around each one. we also saw a small ray (not sure what type, but not a stringray), a moray eel. but most impressive where the large schools of fish.

finally, having not much else to do in the current, i experimented with boyancy (moving up and down in the water by managing the amount of air in my lungs). and whilst ive been able to do this before, ive never been able to control it in such a fine way. in the current, being able to just hover, or glide up over the coral, or maneuver down to the ocean floor to kick out of the current was an amazing sensation. its also a nice feeling to be able to get better at something. i was able to conserve a lot of air, really manage it well.

after this dive my instructor said said he felt i didnt need to do the nutural boyancy skills, that i was already good enough at it - which i took as a compliment.

everything i do underwater now is about conserving air & managing my breathing - so i breathe slowly and regularly. being as quiet as possible. and i notice that when i don't move as much, the fish come a lot closer to me - i think because they get curious.

ive only logged 14 dives, but here was the first time i walked into a new dive shop, and straight away really at home, comfortable and secure with the instructors, the equipment and the other divers. putting all my gear together and whisking out on the boat for the first time felt like something that felt quite natural, quite normal, i didnt need to think about it

the other couple of dives where a navigation dive (following a perfect square with a compass), which is almost identical to what i'd done for the standard OW course, so no biggie. the other experience, the one i've just returned from, was a night dive which was very interesting for couple of reasons.

first of all - the underwater life, which looks otherworldy normally, - well that feeling, that experience, was magnified at night. every coral, rock, or strange underwater formation looked surreal, even spooky at times. i think with night dives you have to be a lot more cautious keeping an eye on your buddy, where you are going - looking out for the other divers and underwater hazards, its a little more intensive. and (maybe because of this) we didnt see a great deal of underwater life i think we just annoyed a hellovalot of goldfish who were trying get some sleep - & also got a bit cold for the first time.

one more awesome thing about the night dive - when we all turned off our flashlights and stirred up the plankton, which glows in the dark, and you realise how much of it is in the water. and that everything down there is alive, and is important. that was incredible.

colombia

2009-06-27T03:31:00Z

and i'm off again.

the trip out of panama was through AIRES, this weird little colombian airline. i wasnt sure what type of plane i was getting, or which gate it left from. it almost seemed to operate under the radar at Tocumen / Panama City . but it was a great flight, if for not other reason than i got to look down over a rainbow, ive never done that, it looked incredible.

cartegenia is a touristed out, polished up version of panama city. at least the "old" section is. andits afixed to the toursit trail a little more firmly, for example the cruise ships stop here. that doesnt make it any less beautiful though. i took a few photos, but it deserves a little more than this - and it deserves more than the 2 and a half days i spent here.

i stayed in a very pretty hostel - just opened. media luna, $9 a night for a dorm bed, with courtyard, swiming pool, and a bar upstairs.

also took a half day trip to see (and swim) in a the top of 20-metre high mud volcano, an experience - not quite like anything else ive ever done. the steam baths outside of reykjavik came to mind. but this was different again - an incredible sensation to be immersed in the mud, quite hard to explain the feeling - the weird properties of the mud, very warm, with a hint of sulfur - and dense enough to float over but then easy enough dive underneath as well. recommended... if you like weird things.

watched the michael jackson thing unfold live on cnn in the hostel the crowd slowly gathering around the tv and on the street. weird to watch peoples first reactions. and now i'm kinda over hearing his entire back catalog being played on every radio station.

today - i bussed it to taganga, a fishing village / backpacker ghetto about four hours north of cartegena. hoping to do a few dives here and not a great deal else.

all the pics i've uploaded here can be seen in the new 2009 colombia folder, any new stuff will go here as well.

travelling by myself for this small period, finally and i'm a little more paranoid about keeping all my stuff in one place, and i'm a little less good at actually doing it. slightly nervy - just dont want to loose anything more. and relating to other people is different as well, socialising etc, i was a lot more outgoing and carefree when i had the group to fall back on. now, i notice i choose my places and moments a little more carefully.

tonight

2009-06-24T06:01:27Z

the last night in panama city, last night out for the group.

taxi to the argentinean steakhouse; very tasty meals.

then hit up the casino, lingered around the blackjack tables long enough to pick up $100. almost paid for the flight out of here. feeling sated and rich, left in a cab and got home at midnight.

great night out for the last night here. panama is fantastic. airport tomorrow.

ive uploaded the last couple of panama photo's uploaded. a day earlier we'd seen the miraflores locks & the panama canal itself. just incredible. what an awesome bit of engineering.

panama city

2009-06-22T01:35:57Z

so i fell in love with panama city very quickly.

we arrived in the early morning, stepped off the turboprop from bocas. 3 dolla taxi into "casco viejo" - the old city. and the old city is exactly that, without much renovation or gentrification (yet). its magically intact, so many streets crammed ful of spanish colonial houses and converted tenements. a lof of the old houses have been abandoned, and if you peer through each beautiful window you see collapsed interiors, a beautiful pile of metal and weatherboards.

in some fantastic insances the trees and the shrubs and the dirt have reclaimed the land and grown through the roof and out the windows. that is my favourate thing, the evidence the slow clash between man and nature. gets me giddy.

the afternoon spent exploring, orientated. getting a taste for the markets and the shopping areas.

in there evening there was a small music festival on, spread over four stages in 4 parks in the old city area, filled with people and food stalls, and a wonderful vibe. panama city didnt need to try that hard. i was already in love.

another great thing about this place - the differennce in the people. i guess - parhaps for the same reason i love istanbul - this is the meeting point - the gap or the crossroads between two continents. and theres a wonderful positive energy here thats hard to explain. but its a good energy - not a seedy one. and it's AUTHENTIC, and its EXCITING to be around and be part of.

ill try and take some pictures that capture all this.

and i probably wont be able to do it justice.

but this place is well on its way to being one of my favourate cities ever.

the list would go
1 new york
2 istanbul
3 panama city

(notable mentions: berlin, san fransisco, budapest, vienna, kathmandu, calcutta)

back to panama. spent most of today shopping for replacement items for the backpack. and filling out a new change of clothes so i can look good while backpacking. AND i replaced those headphones i lost with a really really nice sounding pair, possibly better than my originals for half the price. so i have music back and that ads to the elation a little bit. shopping here is really good value, and the malls and streets seem to bend over the horizon.

i kinda wonder what this place will be like in 5-10 years. when the beauty of the old city has been properly exploited for the tourist potential. i think the magic is fundamentally there, it should stay, you should all come. and i'd love to come back here.

bests worsts

2009-06-22T01:31:55Z

so now the the first part of this trip is almost its time to make some lists.

the best places
belize - caye caukner
nicaragua - lake apoyo
guatamala - antigua
panama - panama city

best country
honduras & panama (equal first)
nicaragua & belize (equal second)

best border crossing
costa rica - panama (that old bridge)
guatamala - honduras (quiet valley in the mountains)

best meal
garlic pawns in omnetepe - nicaragua
the fish in mexico - tulum
the communal effort from all of us at lake apoyo, nica
rice and beans, corozal, belize
chinese taakeaway, san pedro, belize

best guacamole/advocados
mexico - tulum

best beach
mexico - cancun
mexico - tulum
panama - bocas del toro / red frog beach

best hostel
the yellow house (antigua)
luna's castle (panama city)
tina's (caye caukner)
gaudy's backpackers (san jose)

best trips/excusions
pacaya volcano - antigua , guatamala
any one of the diving trips with utila water sports, utila, honduras
hol chan/shark-ray alley, ambergris caye, belize
tikal, guatamala
the blue hole - lighthouse atoll, belize
diving/snorkling/beaching, bocas del toro, panama
copan ruins, honduras

best volcano
pacaya - guatamala
la concepicion - nicaragua
san cristobel - nicaragua

worst nights sleep
wherever it was i stayed in cancun
the sweltering utila watersports affiliated dormroom/sauna
the first night and last nights in grenada

worst boat trip
utila to le cieba hungover at 6am
san jorge to omnetepe with the diesel filled cabin

worst bus ride
san pedro sula to le ceiba.
san pedro sula to telepigua
telipigua to leon

most medioka place
flores - guatamala
cancun - mexico
leon - nicaragua

best capital
panama city (no other cities really in competetion)

best bar
the lazy lizard bar, caye caukner, belize
balabau, utilia, honduras
treetanic, utilia, honduras

best beers
sol (mexico)
salva vida (honduras)
atlas (panama)

best cocktail
frozen margerita at cafe mariposa, utila, honduras
frozen margerita topped up with my vodka supplies, tulum, mexico
the panty ripper, lazy lizard bar, belize

best hammock
mexico - tulum
san pedro - belize

other thoughts:
luna's castle, which is where i am staying now, typing this, is the best hostel i've stayed at by a mile. its good for all the things i think are important - a good place to meet other travellers, good for trips and information, relaxed atmosphere. fantastic location in the old city. (also has fast wifi internet).

i do wonder how many other interesting styles of music i would have been exposed to, in these various backpacker-styled places, if bob marley had never existed, or never recorded anything. i like him, but i think i've heard enough to last a lifetime.

overall, with all these countries: this is a great backpacker circuit. cheap, beautiful, and culturally fascinating. and i dont think it will be domanated by american travellers as much in the future. spanish helps a great deal, and its not a pick up parts of the language especially if you're immersed in it over here. my only regrets are not being able to spend more time in each country, and skipping a couple of countries. i would have preffered to spend a lot more time here, i'd allocate at least three months or so to see things properly, and really get a feel for what is happening

reccomended to anyone.

firsts lasts

2009-06-19T22:06:26Z

today i rode a bike for the first time in 6 weeks. through a road along the beach full of mud and puddles. unequivically: fun.

i also swam in the roughest surf beach i think i've ever experienced. bluff beach, bocas del toro. massive swell, dumping nice waves only a few metres offsure. actually i got dumped a few times, straight down into the sand, i still have sand all through my head. and i could see on the rocks out in the distance, a really impressive break with at least 2-3 meteres high in pleaces, curling out for 30-40 metres. and the weirdest thing of all? the beach (all 3km of it) was completley empty. very beautiful. very hard to capture.

ive also had time to do a bit more reflection of the dive i did yesterday. in hindsight - loved it. mainly because it was so very relaxed. many little fish on this dive as well, even though the water was very cloudy there was lots of activity. also saw quite a few lobster they were fantastic. trumpetfish, angelfish, and a shitload of other fish i am unable to recognnise yet. but soon. it was the first time i didnt swim as much and just observed it all, i felt at peace underwater.

its our last day in bocas del toro. the three of us remaining will fly out to panama city tomorrow.

caribbean air

2009-06-18T23:46:23Z

coasted through costa rica, stayed one night in san jose. ate fast food, marvelled at how good the costa ricans have it compared to everywhere else in the region. i guess that what happenes without war (or even an army). it was nice for a moment, but i wasn't lost in the place, and happy to keep going. san jose looks a lot like any other city.

the bus the next day took us down, out of the mountain. we got down past a certain level and the cool air dissapeared and the hot caribbean air returned.

the long bus to the panamanian border

the border crossing was described ato me as "where the prisoner transfer would happen during a war" which is exactly what what it looked like. a long, old ricketety bridge over a slow river.

panamian border control was in no hurry to let us though

we rushed off the bus terminal, stackeed all into a maxi taxi, a thirty minnute ride later at the port of alimirente, then a another 40 minutes water taxi to bocas del toro. a 12 hour travelling day, and our last as a group. we have a good place here, a big room that fits all of us, with a kitchenette and a big verendah over the water.

on the 16th we celebrated jess's birthday here, with a nice dinner, surprise pinyada, and then many drinks at many bars across town. every night, it seems, in every bar, is ladies night. the final place was heaving at 2am, with a really good mix of locals and a few tourists, the reggaeton blasting. the next day we all had big hangovers, we did nothing

today i went diving, and everyone else came on the boat and snorkled. the water was pretty cloudy, lots of activity from the reef though - some weird extrections. lots of jellyfish! and clams, lobsters. saw a sea spider cleaning another fish. most of the time just a lot of poor curious little looking at me and then darting away.

the rest of nicaragua and costa rica buses.
the panama folder .
penny's thoughts on leaving the caribbean
entering the water

penny leaves us tomorrow (sad!) which marks the bening of the end of travelling in a group. we all fly on to panana city over various days, then split up in all directions. its been good.

ometepe

2009-06-15T01:31:28Z

i think we all really enjoyed nicaragua for the relaxed pace of it, and the friendly locals.

i had a great time save for one sour experience

for the last 2 days we've been hanging out in ometepe.

ometepe is an island made out of two volcanoes, one of which is active, rising out of a very large freshwater lake that makes up most of the middle of nicaragua. quite spectacular arriving via the ferry. i will never get tired of looking at the cloud formations and patterns arround the active volcano, "la conception" is the tallest at 1400m and is just mesmorising. volconoes are a sneak peak into the power beneath the earths surface, a trigger for the imagination. very inspiring

i remember the last afternoon at playa santa domingo (where we stayed on the island) swimming out into the lake, and then looking back onto the volcano. the setting sun was directly above it, its strength diluted by light cloud cover so i could look right at it. very iconic, lasting image in my mind, of a perfect 45 degree sloped volcano with the sun appearing to 'hover' 100m or so above the volcano crater.

the other volcano that makes up the island is not active. it is however, a very dense jungle, stacked full of wildlife. we attempted to get up the mountain, i made it 3km (and about 650 meteres) before running out of time and eneregy and footwear, which had disintergrated from around my foot. i left the remnant of my only pair of shoes at the hostel. my pack is lighter than ever, and is now pretty much only half full.

the wildlife on the island was fantastic as well - my favourate creature was the "urraca" the blue in their wings, and their crest is one of my favourate colours they're a good looking bird.

i think we're starting to feel the start of the rainy season here, just thinking back over thee weather patterns of the last few days.

moving on - and my first impressions of costa rica: this is a fertile country. i notice all the rich colours. deep dark greens on the hills. lush valleys. its also clearly more developed than an anywhere else in central america, perhaps a little bit to its detriment. there are lots of americans around here.

we're not staying here, just passing though. we didnt really have time to see costa rica properly, so we're not really going to see any of it at all - just moving straight on the bocas del toro on the caribbean side of panama tomorrow. islands & beach for a few days more.

in nica

2009-06-11T07:12:29Z

my first thoughts on granada is that reminds me a lot of antigua. antigua is more 'polished' as a destination, but somehow grenada ends up looking more touristy. and im speculating that thats due to more foreign-owned businesses here.

nicaragua is great though.

and nothing wrong with granada as well, on sunday we transitted from leon, the so-called university/liberal centre of the country, where everyone seemed to be in church, onward to the so-called conservative grenada, where there was a horse parade of some description, an excuse for every girl in town to get dressed up real nice, and the rest of the city went drinking in the street. a great day to arrive.

yesterday was spent at laguna de apoyo. very beautiful, very interesting to swin in a such large body of freshwater. the lake is an old volcano crator and it is very deep, more than 200 metres, even swimming out a few lengths from the shoreline i could no longer touch the bottom. the water wasnt cold either. hooray old for volcanoes

video: ange & penny: bus station.

tomorrow: more volcanoes on ometepe

the final two weeks of group holidaying has been sort of...planned, some set destinations in panama before everyone else moves on to home and other places.

leon

2009-06-06T18:03:08Z

diving completed for now. i hope to resume again in colombia.

my left ear is still a bit deaf, i cant remember if its the same eardrum (left) i blew in turkey three years ago. but its not the same thing now, theres just a lingering deaf-y ness. it seemed to get worse with each dive, and so i'll take a week or so off to see if it gets better.

i ended up completing nine dives at utila, and would highly reccomend utila watersports and especially their instructors. i think having a good instructor experience would make the biggest difference. more important than the dive locatoins, equipment, or price paid.

over the mountains south of san pedro sula, and you lose that carribean air. it was 13 hours ferry-bus-bus to get to Tegucigalpa, and another 7 hours the next day to get here to leon, nicaragua. we're only a few km form the pacific ocean.

outside of europe, capital cites are usually rubbish places to visit. teguz at least didnt seem that dangerous but we figured there are more interesting places en route. and leon is that place for now. and we're all a bit tired of being on the bus.

theres a very good-looking active volcano around here. we passed it on the bus. straight up slopes on all sides, big plume of smoke constantly coming out of the top.

right now this hostel has no water. and i need a shave. im told the whole thing will be rectified very soon. it would have been 10 days since the last one, and so i'm very beardy and irritable.

lots more video

2009-06-04T00:29:21Z

lots more video of our travelling crew here for ya, mostly scalped from penny and ange's cameras.

penny and calvin. taken at the lazy lizard bar in cay caukner. calvin likes alligators. he's also pretty sure of himself. he was at the bar every night.

penny. salsa dancing. she seems to attrack attention whereever she goes. (sadly, both this video and the next aree rotated 90 degrees from the original, but it hasnt quite worked, and has made penny look like more of a midget)

penny. stuck. some poncho related difficulties

ange riding a horse. the horses name is bonito.

the meal i missed out on. penny, age and pauline made this video to prove their point.

boat crew. marion, korin, jon. on the boat, northside of the island, relaxing between dives.

cooling off, dockside. taken a couple of hours ago. jules, jess, penny, ange, pauline.

also - a fifteen of my favourate shots from honduras if you want to look over here

oceans

2009-06-03T23:52:44Z

ive been out on the boats for six or seven consecutive days now. and a lot of that time we stationary at sea between dives. the boat is tied up against the booey and the waves roll against it.

on land, when i close my eyes, i can still feel the boat gently rocking. its as vivid as anything i can experience. and i love it. i can feel the exact motion, the patterns in the waves that move the boat up and down, side to side.

and im sure that when i next hallucinate, im sure it will be about the coral swaying underwater, and the little colourful fish duck in and outm and inhabit each one. theres something about that world that is utterly exceptional, a special place, close to my own mind and being.

open water

2009-06-02T00:59:16Z

ive just completed my SSI Open Water certification here at Utila

it was an awesome experience:

the certification itself is a lot about the science of breathing underwater. which i actually found absolutely fascinating, especially after i was in the water. using my lungs to control buoyancy& messing around with weightlessness. controlling my body in a completely new way - and drilling down on the mechanics of it was fantastic.

(ive had the opportunity to look at how blood flow works in my body after the DVT, and how the digestive system works after the IBD, and this was similarly enlightening and empowering)

i had an amazing instructor, marion, the most tattooed german on the island, been an instructor 10+ years, and was so clear an supportive with everything. also interesting about the course were all the emergency procedures, and why and how they work. we dived 2 times today. saw a seahorse on the first, and a little shipwreck on the second. im loving the coral walls. and im loving the life underwater, i am constantly mesmorised by it, just fucking incredible.

i am still struggling with equalising on the way down. it takes me longer than id like to do it comfortably. i need to swallow down hard rather than pop my years, and it takes more effort after each dive.

as for utilia? theres shitloads of reef but not much fish life. ok well of course there is, if you have a minute to wait around a clump of coral all sorts of amazing activity will appear. but the bright, vibrant swarms on the barrier reef do not exist here.

and this is the realisation ive come to: the most beautiful reef in the word, with the most fish, is the great barrier reef in australia. i was kinda spoilt that that was the first place i went underwater, im not sure anything else is as beautiful as that. not to worry. but id like to go back there, sometime over the next year.

and this place? you have a realistation you could hang around utila for a month and dive the whole time is mildly attractive. maybe even get the advanced cert. time and cash will prohibit but you know, daydreaming.

earthquake

2009-05-29T02:46:09Z

im pretty sure i was the only person in this part of the world who didnt feel the earthquake last night. i was in the top bunk and everything, lots of shaking, enough to wake everyone else but sadly not me. in utilia (island off the coast of northern honduras, not far from the epicenter), where we are now, theres a lot of unstable looking houses but nothing has actually toppled over which is pretty impressive for a 7.1. most of the residents here hadnt gootten any sleep, they stayed awake due to the tsunami warnings.

i took the bus and the ferry here today. it was stinkin hot and took ages. ive gone ahead of the girls to spend a couple of extra nights on the island at one of the dive shops here. will be catching up with everyone else here in a few days time.

looking back on it, antigua was great place to stay. i dont think ive encountered a more backpacker-friendly town. good food. perfect cimate in the mountains. and so much to do. lots of spanish language courses, salsa classes. there wqere lots of backpackers spending two or more weeks there and i couldnt blame them.

life on the islands is slower, more relaxed, islander culture. caribbean. english is spoken widely here unlike the rest of honduras and guatemala, which is actually not ideal! because i'd prefer to know more spanish and be confident in it. at the moment i can only decipher it, and say very basic stuff. just enough to get by, but i cant construct any sentences of my own, and it would help a great deala if i was immersed in the language for a longer period of time so i would be abale to to do that.

also uploaded: some more video + pictures

youtube: the lazy lizard bar in cay caukner, penny on top of a mayan temple, ange attempting the ymca.
facbook pics: guatemala & honduras.

any jules, who is now on utila as well ghas a far more interesting earthquake report

lava

2009-05-27T23:05:25Z

so i got to climb a very active volcano, and see some amazing lava flow from a distance thats way to close.

it was hot here. you step over the recently formed rock to see the lava flow, but the whole thing was smoking hot. where i was standing where i took the video i could only stand for about 30 seconds or so, i could feel the heat coming up through the soles of my feet, i could see traces the glowing rock underneath me, presumably a fuckload more lava underneath

to be honest it was a little on the stupid/dangerous side. theres no way you'd be able to get that close in any country with decent liability insurance. there were a lot of tourists up the mountain and the guide said that they hadnt lost any yet. i'd say that such a practice is unsustainable, but so be it.

being on an active volcano, a moving mountain at sunset was such an euphoric, exhilarating experience, one of the most amazing i've ever had. a couple of extra pics online here

guatemala

2009-05-25T17:20:15Z

We left caye caukner on on friday and stopped in belize city. We havnt quite been able to co-ordinate bus transfers yet, we waited there for around 4-5 hours.

Time enough to explore the pretend shopping shoppingmall on the docks built specifically for cruiseliner passengers. Wood carvings sold in american dollars at american prices. Some sort of visa-free zone, safely tucked away from the real belize. Such a weird place! We stayed for about five minutes before we realised we should be somewhere else. We stalked back out into the city with the real people, confronted with the best and the worst of the place. It was a little awkward at times but at least it felt like a real place

The bus trip to the border was uneventful save for this one sign outside a primary school. It showed a child with outstretched arms, and three lines of text underneath. "I have AIDS. You can Hug Me. I cannot make you sick". I wasn't sure of my feelings, somewhere between sad and absurd.

We crossed over into Guatemala and dropped onto a wild dirt road. Noticeably poorer and cheaper. Actually, Guatemala is really good value for backpackers.

Flores might have been a nicer place to stay if it wasnt literally being turned upsidedown by a series of roadworks on every second street which made getting around difficult. Also the entire island was serviced by a single ATM which by the second day, had a skimming device attached to it (photo's soon!) all that, combined with a lack of nightlife ment we didnt hang around for longer.

We did use Flores as a base to explore Tikal, which has to be up there as on of the best temple/ruins complex i have ever seen - at a level that includes Angkor Watt. We had a lot of fun climbing and explorering the impressive (and seemingly never-ending) temple structures. Temple 5 was our favourate, with a high, steep climb. The experience was made all the more wondrous by wildlife around, the park is a living environment filled with lots of animals: monkeys, woodpeckers (very awesome), and there squirrel-like creatures.

From Flores it was 8 hours to Guatamala City

Guatemala City has the up there with the sketishiest cities of ever seen/visited. big security guards with pump action shotguns guarding the bus station as we came In. And gangs and vice out on the street. We got lucky. We found a minibus that heading out straight away. otherwise we were faced with a dodgy taxi/bus PT hop throughout the city, with backpacks, that would have taken hours and been hard to pull off without getting mugged.

And Antigua.

Antigua is a world away from all of this. Up into the mountains and the rain. It’s almost a european city with cobblestone streets, very pretty. It even gets cold in the evenings, my hoodie will make an appearance for the first time on this trip.

We've been lucky with keeping track of all our possessions, however everyone gets sick when backpacking and we've been taking it in turns. Jess and Jules, and as of the this morning Ange have all been struck down with this 24hour gastro-like bug that makes a big effort to clear out your system. Penny, Pauline and myself have been ok for the moment but i know its only a matter of time. we're all going to take it easy here for a few days before heading off to honduras.

some sides

2009-05-20T23:42:03Z

i am in complete and utter love with all things avocado, and all avocado based products. this has always been true, but its never bean more true. im not sure i could ever get sick of the stuff, ever. and i should have overdosed by now. delicious.

also, ever since the bulls-celtic series i've been following the nba playoffs and finals quite intently. have seen it broadcast in almost every local bar i've been into on this trip. theres a lot of interest from everywhere, and there's been some great games. im not particularly going for anyone, but i kinda hope the lakers don't win.

i'm typing this from the front courtyard of our hostel that faces the beach in caye cauker. a boats just come in with a whole lot of fish which is being diced up on the beach in front of me. and there are about six or seven pelicans taking a keen interest in proceedings, it's funny to watch

today we went out to lighthouse atoll and the blue hole. a bit pricey but worth it. no regrets. i do really wish i had some sort of diving certification already, but this is something i'm going to rectify very soon anyway. saw lots of fish, lots of reef. a ray, and few large turtles which were my favourate.

its so nice and relaxing we've decided to spend an extra day here before heading in.

video

2009-05-19T13:58:15Z

i've uploaded three more videos of the trip so far

the coconut incident in tulum.

drinking beers at the pier at sunset taken last night in san pedro

fishing at the pier i shot this just before the boys spotted a large stingray swimming around the docks

hol chan & shark-ray alley

2009-05-18T16:41:12Z

on sunday all 4 of us went out for a snorkle and swim ono the reef which is a few kilometres offshore from here.

the reef was great, but the most incredible stuff was the interaction with the larger fish. we swam with a large number of nurse sharks, even touched one as it swam past. they're a beautiful looking fish. and harmless.

equally impressive were some large stingrays. i absolutely love watching them, the movement they make as they glide throug the water is so mesmerising. also love watching them 'burrow' into the sand. we saw heaps, at least a dozen or so at one time, little ones, and these old big ones, we saw a couple of old ones that had lost their stingers.

the boatman made a few cracks about how they're harmless unless you're australian. that joke usually works, he said.

other highlights - a green moray eel. huge. and very weird. a more prehistoric-looking creature i have not seen. (also up there in the prehistoric-stakes: the barracuda). there were also a few turtles, loverly things. i think baby turtles are pretty much the cutest baby creature ever, even cuter than baby goats.

all of this happened at what i figured were two pretty popular tourist spots, hol chan and shark-ray alley. we don't have an underwater camera between us, but this writeup with pictures gives you some idea of what it was like.

the reef itself was good as well. but i think australians are kinda spoilt by the beauty of the great barrier reef, i dont think anything else comes close. i do hope to see more/different sharks over the next couple of days when we head over to Caye Caukner.

in belize

2009-05-18T16:39:59Z

a good thing about english being spoken here in belize is the window that that opens into the culture and mindset of the locals here. im not pretending to know it all, but i have had some pretty incredible conversations with the locals here, who are very relaxed, friendly and laid back, but also willing to talk about even some of the more taboo topics.

the town square here in san pedro during a heaving saterday night is a meeting point for drunk locals and tourists and expats, i could have stayed there for hours just people watching. I ended up having a lengthy free-flowing conversation with a middle-aged local woman. theres no easy solutions to any of it but theres a refreshing honesty about the issues.

she pointed out all the undercover police in the town square. she said they wern't really there to prevent crime or the prostitution, or even protect tourists (they make their own mistakes) but rather to keep an ear out for serious criminal activity.

and she pointed out all the prostitutes in the square as well. really just local girls getting on the tourist gravy train. i was oblivious at first, but then it became easy. just look for any local girl in a short skirt talking to a white person

and it goes both ways here, apparently theres quite ann underground market in the local boys aimed at wealthy anglo women

we also discussed the HIV prevelenace in belize which is conservatively estimated at 2.5%, or one in 40. quite scary really. we spoke a lot about the problems caused by drugs, which actually seemed to be no different to any other small town enviroment, with the exception of belize being increasingly used by coke trafficers to get their product form columbia to mexico and then the states. she said that some of the local boatmen were being used in this way, and probably making healthy profits too. but concerns as well - how such a powerful influence could distabalise such a small country over the long term.

we also talked about the issue of many american expats moving in (and also starting businesses). short term this is bringing a lot of money to the islands, but if it keeps happening over time the belizeans are going to be priced out of their own land. which would cause a lot of anger here and also be a great shame for any non-american visitors. the world doesnt need another cancun.

a trip down the coast

2009-05-16T18:22:02Z

tulum. all about beaches. more beach than mexico. although the ruins nearby were nice - the location was even better. and we got a pretty good deal on our hostel location as a well: some photos are up on facey and ive uploaded a small video taken from our verandah there on youtube. we also had some really amazing food in town.

we spent all of friday navigating between tulum and corozol, which is 4-5 hours away on the belize side of the border. it actually took us a lot longer than that to get there. we spent a lot of time just waiting round at bus stations, sitting on bags, waiting for the next bus.

at the border we had to declare that we didnt have swine flu.

first impression of belize were that it is a poorer place, but everything still costs the same. lots of old painted weatherboard houses. the queen is on the back of the money. and theres a much much slower pace of life, its very relaxed.

we were finally starting to get used to spanish and it feels a bit werid to have conversations with locals in english again. its a little too easy, and not as much fun as learning spanish phrases and playing traveller charades. but the belizean accent: wow. i cant remember the right word for it - creole? islander? caribbean? you would recognise it as jamacian. each word is almost sung, it's really nice to listen to.

belizean food is: chicken rice and beans which is tasty and cheap.

our hostel in corozal may have had a few cochroaches. maybe.

today was the eariest start, 6:30 am to catch the boat out to san pedro, ambergris caye. we're here now, managed to snag an excellent deal on a hotel room - a benefit of travelling in a group of four. and its getting bigger as well - jules arrives tomorrow. the plan is to do a whole lot of snorkling over the next couple of days.

notes from a tourist ghetto

2009-05-12T23:13:58Z

We took Alaskan Air direct from LAX to Cancun. There were about 30 or so people on the flight, roughly 20% full. As the plane was empty every passenger got their own isle of seats. I did overhear a delightful conversation that went something like this

Attractive American Lady - Do you have any blankets?
Flight Attendant - Ah... no. We're not supposed to hand them out any more
Attractive American Lady - (quzzicial)
Flight Attendant - Er, because of the... (long pause)
Attractive American Lady - (pause)
Flight Attendant - (pause) ... er... thing
Attractive American Lady - (a long pause - then the penny drops)
Flight Attendant - with the... (not wanting to say it)
Attractive American Lady - (not wanting to talk about it).... thats fine. OK.

Its interesting how the Swine Flu/H1N1 issue has obviously freaked both of them out a little, so it just becomes this unmentionable thing. Neither person wanted to actually name it. I wondered how in real pandemic, or some unfolding natural disaster, how strangers would react to it if they were forced to, due to some social circumstance.

Anyway, the flight landed. A nurse at immigration checked my temperature. She was the only person we saw that day wearing a mask.

Cancun wasnt that bad. But theres no reason to stay if you're an independant-minded traveller, as opposed to somone on a holiday.

We stayed in town and visited the the beach. And truthfully, they're probably the most beautiful beaches i've ever seen. I think i can say that uneqivically actually. the surf, the sand, and the bright aquablue waters. stunning. and sadly, its all thoroughly negated by the hideous resorts that stretch for around 30km of coastline in the 'Hotel Zone'.

There are some disastrous developments as well. Some cabins and bungalows, since abandoned, built right to the waters edge. And now even the larger (horrific) 8-10 story complexes are beginning to look a little tired and rust-weary. Needing a new paint job. On the other side of the hotels there's Starbucks, KFC and Subway all sandwiched in to these mini-malls that crop up every 5km or so. Theres even a Hooters in the most wretched part of the strip, the nightclub area.

Obviously they think they're onto a good thing. I can still see cranes on the skyline. I would have thought the financing issues at this time might slow some of these projects down, but it doesnt seem to be.

But the swine flu scare is going to devastate this area economically for at least the next couple of months. Right now I'm told hotel occupancy is at 20% and I'm surprised its that high. There doesnt seem to be less locals out and about, but noticeably there are pretty much no tourists.

We're at Playa del Carmen now, and it's lots of fun. Its not any less commercial really. But its not offensive like Cancun is, and its easy to walk around. Penny and Ange have joined us here. There are more backpackers and travellers here generally, and the beaches are wonderful, and we're in a very social hostel.

A bottle of Sol or Corona is 15 pesos, which is 1 dollar 50 australian. Margaritas and Mojotios are similarly priced. Coke is whispered/offered on the street to any vulnerable-looking gringo. (Obviously I have not partaken, theres a certain legal/trust element lacking). But the hot local boys at the hostel definetly used it to lure the young australian girls into a sort of mexican cultural exchange over the last couple of nights.

These girls are young, 24ish. just coming off a canadian working holiday visa. I was introduced to them in the following way:

- you from australia as well?
- yeah, living in sydney at the moment
- oh, thats where i'm from, on the north shore! in... [insert forgettable snobby suburb name here]
- ah... i'm living in enmore
- oh. (pause) thats (pause .. pause) nice.

And there it was. Another unmentioned understanding. that even though we're from the same country, the same city, that the sydney north shore / inner west divide was a little too much to handle.

Of course, i'm as guilty of perpetuating this mindset as they are. no further effort was made at interaction.

Today has been spent at the beach. We actually all forgotten to take our cameras (seems to be a reoccuring theme) so you'll just have to believe me when I say the sand is white and the waters are a beautiful blue. Due to the lack of tourists theres heaps of space on the beach and a very relaxed atmosphere. Its about 30 degrees. We also forgot to take/apply decent subscreen, so it seems we're a tad burnt. And if thats the worst thing that happens today then we are fine.

Tomorrow we go to Tulum, and then a couple of days after that to Belize, Ambergris Caye and the Blue Hole.

notes in transit

2009-05-08T23:48:26Z

New Zealand:
Technically was not in new zealand. Rather the international lounge at auckland airport as a 1-hour layover has evolved into a 7-hour one.

There are frequent showers that pass over but for some reason the sun is always shining. There is a rugby game being played on every television. The police have these oversizeds hats that make them look ridiculus. If was arrested here im not sure i could take them seriously. oh and new zealand couples are awefully cute.

Auckland airport isnt all bad. lots of couches and rows of chairs without dividers for sleeping. Every arriving passenger had to declare they didnt have swine-flu. There was one guy with a mask on.

Planegeek:
Auckland was full of Emeriates, Qantas and AirNZ planes. The Emriates a380 is going to Sydney and dubai. There's two ANZ flights leaving to london within minutes of each other. One via Hong Kong, the other via LA. Im not sure if theres any airline in the world that does an effectinve round the world this way. I like looking at the departure board. Its feels good to be a traveller again.

And nice to be overwhelemed by a new set of tailfins at LAX. And to see the Qantas a380 being loaded for departure. And I remembered how much I like the look of the American Airlines paintjob.

Los Angeles:
I'm only here to rest after the previous flight and unjetlag myself. Anyone walking seems to be looked on with suspicion here. And the main american culture shock = everyone on the television is shouting. Or at least thats the impression they give. I remember thinking this last time. But all the real americans I actually meet, they're all pretty awesome and very friendly.